Of Tea and Cider
by Ismira Daugene
Summary: Sarah goes back to the labyrinth in winter to have tea on her birthday with Hoggle.  When she decides to wander off into the labyrinth, she gets a birthday present she wasn't quite expecting.


**A/N:** This is a short one-shot I wrote to celebrate my 100th deviation on DeviantArt. I figured I'd share it on here too. I hope you enjoy it! :)

**o O o O o O o**

"Sarah, I will not takes you back to the Underground! Not no way! Not no how!" Hoggle yelled shaking a finger at the now thirty-year-old Sarah Williams; why had he promised her one birthday wish of her choosing?

"Oh come on Hoggle! It's my birthday!"

"Do you have a death wish for your birthday? Because this is a good way of gettin' 'round to it if ya do!"

"He can't still be mad at me… I mean, it's been fifteen years! I won, he lost… simple as that. I can't imagine that he would still be a sore loser after all these years."

Hoggle glared at the brunette before him. He'd been visiting her weekly since her trip through the labyrinth and they'd become closer friends than Hoggle would have ever thought possible. The, in his opinion, young girl before him was like a sister to him and he didn't want any harm to come to her, but she was pleading with him to take her to the Goblin Kingdom as a present for her birthday. "Now listen 'ere missy… the Goblin King ain't a Fae to be trifled with and you damn near tore apart his castle then walk off as if nothin' happened! O' course he's gonna be angry!"

"But Hoggle – "

"Nothin' doin', Sarah… the Fae hold grudges for a long time. What does ya expect from an immortal?"

Sarah turned and sat on her couch, resting her chin in her hands. The little gnome creature remained standing, as if to prove he wouldn't budge on the subject at hand. Sarah suddenly sat up. "Hoggle, what if you take me back, but we don't go to the castle?"

"Are you daft? Jareth knows everything that goes on in that labyrinth of his! There's no way he wouldn't know yous were back!"

"Fine! What about your place then? You live outside the labyrinth walls don't you? We could just go to your place and have tea."

Hoggle seemed to think this over. "Well… ifin' ya promise not to go in the labyrinth – I suppose I could takes ya back to my place. There's a new blend of tea I just mades that I wants to try out," Hoggle grinned, liking the idea of having tea with his friend.

Sarah smiled too and stood. "Well, when do we go?" she asked.

"Do ya have any plans for the next few hours?"

"Nope!"

Hoggle took her hand in his large leathery one. "Then lets goes now. Come on then," he said tugging her to the mirror she kept in her guest bedroom.

The large upright mirror stood in the corner of the room. Hoggle went straight up to it and tapped a short stubby finger on the reflective surface. There was a ripple in the glass and then he was pulling Sarah through the mirror and into his small cabin. In the fifteen years that she'd known Hoggle, Sarah had never been to his cabin. He'd always been too afraid that Jareth would somehow find out, but apparently her birthday wish had changed his mind. She looked around the cozy two-room cabin. The main room held a wood stove, wash basin, a rough hewn table, two matching chairs, and several storage bins, not to mention the mirror they'd just come out of. The low roof beams were decked out in drying or dried herbs. Sarah could see the other room held a bed, nightstand, and a large wooden chest. A door set into the floor of the main room led to what Sarah guessed was a cellar. She glanced over to a fidgeting Hoggle who seemed to be awaiting her approval. "It's lovely Hoggle," she said smiling.

Hoggle grinned back, pleased that Sarah liked his home. "Thank ye, Sarah, it means a lot comin' from ya."

With that, Hoggle began to bustle around the small cottage making tea. He put a kettle on the wood burning stove which was already going because of the cold winter weather and then pulled out two mugs and two bundles of dried herbs and leaves. The kettle whistled after a few minutes and he poured the steaming water in the mugs with the bundles of tealeaves and herbs. He put the two mugs on saucers along with a spoon each and carefully set them on the table. "Thanks Hoggle," Sarah said stirring the tea and letting it steep.

"You're welcome," Hoggle replied sitting opposite her. He fiddled with his spoon for a little bit before asking, "Sarah, you never said why you wanted to come back to the Underground so badly."

Sarah thought for a minute before answering the question. "I guess it partly because of his Majesty. I've been thinking about him a lot recently, wondering how he's doing. And of course, seeing you, Didymus, and Ludo are big reasons as well."

"Hmm," Hoggle sipped at his tea. "I sorry ter tell ya you probably won't be seein' 'em today."

"Why not?" she asked furrowing her brow.

"Cuz Ludo is in hibernation until spring and Didymus travels south for the winters to visit family. He won't tell ya this, but age is a creepin' up on 'im and the cold hurts his joints."

"Ah, I see," Sarah said taking a sip of her tea. "Hoggle, where's your bathroom?"

"Outside and behind the house."

"I'll be right back, need to take care some women stuff."

"Did ya need me to show ya to it?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, I'll find it," Sarah replied tying the laces on her sneakers.

Sarah stood and exited the cabin. She had figured upon seeing the small home that the toilet would be outside, which was the perfect opportunity. Quietly, she headed toward the main gate of the labyrinth. By the time Hoggle thought to come looking for her, she would be too far in.

The labyrinth by winter was a wondrously beautiful place. Pristinely white snow covered everything, giving it a Norman Rockwell feeling, but at the same time making it exotic. Sarah pulled the sleeves of her heavy green sweater down over her hands. She didn't think it would be this cold here, but was determined not to turn back. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back.

Finally she found the main gate and pushed on the door to enter. The large wooden door creaked open on its rusty hinges. Sarah quickly stepped through and closed the door behind her. Looking both ways down the long passage brought back memories of her first trip through the labyrinth. She decided to go the same way as before, perhaps the little blue worm would still be there and she could talk to him, find out why she should never go left. Sarah smiled at the memory. As she walked, small white flakes began to fall from the overcast sky. Sarah shivered as they landed in her dark brown hair and melted from the heat of her scalp.

Rubbing her hands against her arms to stay warm, Sarah began to wonder if this was such a good idea. She'd been walking for what seemed at least an hour and she had yet to come across anybody, no worm, no guards, no ruse, nothing. She'd made several turns though and had found herself in the stonewall maze. Her breath puffed out in little clouds as she continued to walk. Perhaps it would be better if she went back to Hoggle's? Sarah had just made up her mind to go back and turned around only to find a dead end. She growled, remembering that the labyrinth was constantly changing so she couldn't go back the way she came. In exasperation, she continued walking the way she'd been going before.

After what had to have been another hour or so, Sarah's fingers were aching from the cold. Her toes had long since gone numb and the cuffs of her pants were soaked through, dragging her down and not helping in the least to conserve warmth. A hat would have been nice, but wishing was the last thing on her mind at that moment. She'd be damned if she was going to let Jareth find her in her current state, half-frozen, wet, and completely and utterly lost.

Unbeknownst to her though, there had been a white and tan owl following her for the past forty-five minutes. It circled low and landed on a ledge in the wall behind her. It watched as Sarah became frustrated and kicked at the snow, causing a spray of white to burst into the air only to gently settle back down. She held her arms tightly over her bosom in a feeble attempt to stay warm. The owl cocked its head to the side, enjoying the girl's suffering. It would have smirked if possible, but a beak makes that particular facial gesture quite difficult, so he quietly transformed to his human form in order to do so. He sat on the ledge, his wild blond hair swirling around him with the cool breeze that also caused his heavy mantle to flutter over his cloak.

Finally, he decided to make his presence known to the girl. "What do we have here?" he asked, causing Sarah to jump and spin around to face him.

Her eyes grew large and her mouth dropped open slightly before she realized it and snapped it shut. She quickly looked down, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here."

Jareth studied her for a moment. The way she held herself, the way she avoided his gaze, and the way she couldn't stop shivering. He frowned, he was put out with the woman standing before him, but he didn't hate her; and seeing her standing there shivering like a new born lamb struck a nerve in him. He didn't want her to catch her death from cold. "Sarah, why have you come back?" he asked taking a step toward her.

Sarah looked up at him, surprised by the calm in his voice. "I – I came to have tea with Hoggle," she said, teeth chattering.

Jareth raised an eyebrow, "You do know his cabin is outside of the labyrinth?"

She glared up at him, some of the old fire behind her eyes. "Of course I know! I just came from… I mean… I was going back there."

"Ah, so you've already been to dear Higgle's home. May I ask why you've come out into the freezing cold and ventured so far from his cabin, without proper winter clothing I might add?"

Sarah's cheeks flushed and she began rubbing her arms again. "I was feeling nostalgic," sarcasm laced the comment.

"Hmm," Jareth cupped his chin in his hand. "This leaves us with a dilemma."

"H – How so?" chattering teeth made her stutter.

"Well you see, once someone has entered the labyrinth, they must either finish or give up and be sent home."

"But I'm not a runner!"

"That may be, but you did enter through the Runner's Gate, so the labyrinth _thinks_ you are."  
"What? B-but…"

"So you see the problem? You must either make it to the center of the labyrinth or forfeit to me."

Sarah frowned; there was no way she was going to make it to the center of the labyrinth with how cold she was now. But she did _not_ want to forfeit to the insufferably smug Fae standing imperiously before her. "How about option C?"

"And what would that be?" he asked crossing his arms.

"You take me back to Hoggle's and I won't bother you anymore."

"Ah but you see I find I quite enjoy our banter, because as you can see," he waved an arm around, "most of the labyrinth is either hibernating or has migrated south. My subjects do not like the cold very much. The ones who remain are not nearly as entertaining as you, my dear."

Sarah stared in wonder at him. He was constantly surprising her. Had someone told her yesterday that she would be having this conversation with the Goblin King she would have laughed. "Come Sarah, forfeit and I will take you back to the castle, give you some hot cider to warm you, and then take you home," he offered.

_Wow… he really must be lonely_, she thought to herself. His offer was quite enticing though. The thought of being warm again was nearly enough to make her accept because she could swear her lips were turning blue by now. "Come now Sarah," he commanded. "I assure you, hypothermia is not pleasant."

Sarah rolled her eyes and took a step toward him. "F – fine, but you p –promise to s – send me home?"

"Of course, my dear," he offered her a gloved hand.

Sarah hesitantly raised her own hand and took his. She could feel his heat even through the smooth leather. "By the gods woman! You're freezing!" he declared upon touching her hand.

In one quick motion, Jareth drew her into his arms and wrapped his cloak around her, using his own body heat to help warm her. Sarah felt nonplussed at his sudden nearness. She was pressed against his chest, his arms wrapped around her to keep the cloak closed around them both. She could feel his warm breath on face as he looked down at her. He inhaled deeply as though taking in her scent. "What a tempting mortal you are," he whispered. "I do believe I'd like to try something while I have the chance, and you can't say you don't owe me anyway," he said looking into her still bewildered eyes.

His face lowered and she felt his lips brush over hers. Their warmth was inviting and she started to kiss him back. She felt him grin and pull her closer. He deepened the kiss, moving his lips against hers as though trying to memorize the feel of them. Sarah closed her eyes and nearly melted into his embrace as he gently bit her lower lip. She opened her mouth and he seized the opportunity to enter it, his tongue caressing her own. Sarah's arms wrapped around him and she clutched him even closer, drawing warmth and comfort from the body pressed against her own. A small part of her brain was warning her about what this kiss was going to mean, but the rest of her body rapidly shushed it. Jareth's hands slipped down to her waist and his thumbs began to rub small circles against her hips. She moaned at the feeling and her own fingers roamed his back. A low growl in the back of his throat encouraged her. Sarah groaned as Jareth pulled away from her, but was placated again when his lips stayed near her and began kissing their way down her jaw and to her neck. He couldn't go far though because of her mock turtleneck sweater. He gave teasing little nips at her throat and felt her arch into him.

Jareth pulled away slightly, his breath still ghosted over her face though. Sarah's own breath was rapid. "Shall we finish this over a mug of cider?" he whispered into her ear.

She shuddered, "Screw the cider," she breathed back.

She felt the rumbling chuckle in his chest. He squeezed his arms tighter around her and with a thought, transported them to his lounge where a roaring fire burned in the hearth and warm cider steamed from mugs sitting on the coffee table. All that was left in the stonewalled maze were two pairs of footprints, two pairs of footprints that stood _very_ close to each other but were slowly being filled in by the gently falling snow.


End file.
